>> tom: it's good to be google! the online search giant is seeing a return of consumer spending and online advertising. but that one-two punch wasn't enough to stop shares from heading down after its late-day earnings report. >> susie: google is part of a tech trend, exceeding expectations and increasing hopes the sector's recovery is in full swing. you're watching "nightly business report" for thursday, april 15. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. stunning earnings from google tonight, up 38% and much better than expected. but it was a surprise, tom, that google shares sold off in after- hours trading. >> tom: susie, the stock fell as much as 4.5%.

investors were disappointed google didn't beat the highest of the analyst expectations. online advertising is rebounding, but maybe just not as fast as some had hoped. >> susie: let's take a look at those first quarter results. google earned $6.76 a share, 16 cents more than estimates. net revenues also came in better than expected-- up 23%, topping $5 billion. joining us now to talk more about google, brian bolan, senior internet analyst at olympia capital markets. he joins us from the c.m.e. group in chicago. hi, brian. >> hi, susie, thanks for having me. >> you've been very bullish on google. were you disappointed by these quarterly numbers? >> i don't want to say i was disa pointed. i think i was satisfied. what i was shocked with was the after market sell-off. i think there was a lot of institutional selling and it was pretty much an overreaction across-the-board. >> so why dow say it was an overreaction? >> well, i think the revenue numbers were good.

they came in to my, you know, pretty aggressive expectations. but i think you know besides the nexus one and the revenue jump that they had from that which was founded. >> you're referring to the google phone. >> the google phone, exactly, that was about a hundred million dollars in revenue. and that 100 million dollars really pushed it over the top. if he didn't have that, i think you could have seen a decrease of about 2%, you know, which would have really made everything sell off. so when you trip that number back out, the quarter wasn't as good tas appeared. >> what about looking ahead. i know the company doesn't give any guidance on the analyst calls but did they say anything this afternoon that gives us an idea of how growth will look for the rest of the year? >> you know, on the conference call they don't give you any guidance but again we can expect more growth from google. i think we saw an acceleration in the cost even though there was noise that it was down off of currency exchange, the fx exchange. so there is, you know, there

is light at the end of the tunnel for google even though there is all this sell-off right now. so i think growth will continue. both on the search side and display side as well. >> you have a buy on the stock and are you expecting it to hit 700 over the next 12 months. it's close to $600 now. do you have any change of heart after today's numbers and what you know about the company? >> after today's number there is just going to be a little more difficult for them to make my 2010 estimate. on the bottom line i was 682. so they were six cents light. i think there is a lot of things that can happen between now and the end of the year to make my number even look small. i think there is a few things in there, obviously the google phone helps on the topside. in the income statement there is the discipline and cost struck tear-- structure was great. interest income was something that was a lot lower than it was last quarter. and i would have expected a much larger number there, given interest rates and the slight increase they've had

since the end of the year. >> brian, any word on the call today about china, about google pulling its operations out of china and losing i guess potential long-term business s that a negative? >> let me just say yes, it is definitely a negative. on the call they did mention that it was a tough decision to make but they felt like they made the right one. they still allow searches from china mainland if they go through the hong kong. so there is a work around in place. how well that's going to work and how that's going to pan out is a different story. you know, it comes to mind that there is a lot of opportunity in china. and if you are's not going to be there, the market is not going to like that. >> all right. thanks for coming on and giving us your analysis, appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> my guest brian bolan, senior internet analyst at olympia capital market. >> tom: google tonight, and intel earlier this week, are early birds when it comes to

reporting earnings. many of the other big tech sector names will report next week. tech stocks have been in rally mode for more than a year, leaving some investors to wonder if it is too late to get in. scott gurvey takes a look. >> reporter: technology spending is usually discretionary for both consumers and businesses. that's why the markets were thrilled by intel's earnings report tuesday showing strong demand in both segments, and why investors were thrilled with the consumer response to the apple ipad and a pack of other new mobile phones and computers. mike ryan of u.b.s. says there is a lot of pent-up demand for these products. >> people have refrained from purchasing, they've done without, and now they're re- engaging. and they're re-engaging in a way that they purchase the things they want or they perceive they need. now, the upgrade in technology cycle that you're seeing, the new product launches, those are the things which kind of create their own demand. >> reporter: while consumers began buying technology back around the holidays, businesses did not. because of that, many analysts predicted the rally on the tech- heavy nasdaq, which began a year ago, would run out of steam.

but the intel report said big business enterprises have stepped up their buying and appear ready to replace servers and high-end pcs for the first time in years. david garrity of g.v.a. research says that is leading many analysts to change their forecasts. >> much of this hinged upon the expectations around enterprises stepping in and beginning to spend, something we said wasn't thought to happen until the end of 2010. to the extent this has been moved forward and that the magnitude of the spending cycle is greater than what expectations are certainly indicates there is probably fairly good room to run for major, well-known, large-cap tech names. >> reporter: in fact, ryan says investors looking at the whole sector on a valuation basis will like what they see. >> even though they've moved, they're still not expensive. if you look at where technology stocks are priced relative to the s&p, they're trading at a modest premium, where they usually trade at a significant premium. >> reporter: many of the tech companies reporting results next week have cut staff in the last

year. that, plus the fact that they will face easy comparisons, has some analysts looking for better than projected earnings. scott gurvey, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's nbr newswheel. despite choppy trading, stocks continue at 19-month highs. the dow rose 21.5 points, the nasdaq added ten, and the s&p 500 up a point. strong earnings news and google anticipation pushed volume higher on both the nyse and nasdaq. >> they decided to extend jobless americans to unemployed americans until early june. the measure goes to the u.s. house which is expected to okay it and to the president who is expected to sign it. that move is timely. weekly jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, jumping by 24,000 new unemployment claims. it's the second consecutive weekly increase, renewing fears high unemployment will be around for a long time.

the pace of home foreclosures also appears to be picking up. for the first three months of the year, almost 260,000 properties were repossessed by lenders. that's a record. compared to a year ago, foreclosures are up by 35%, according to online foreclosure tracking firm realty trac. still ahead-- it's tax day, but our tax guru says you probably shouldn't stress out about the midnight deadline. >> susie: president obama wants to spend billions of dollars on the nation's space program, saying he expects to be around to see us land on mars. speaking at cape canaveral in florida today, the president pledged $6 billion to develop high-powered, long-range rockets. he also wants to create jobs by expanding the commercial space industry, and he wants americans to explore space. >> we will actually reach space faster and more often under this new plan, in ways that will help us improve our technological capacity and lower our costs, which are both essential for the long-term sustainability of space flight. >> susie: earlier in the day, president obama addressed a much more serious topic-- mine safety.

he singled out massey energy for "a failure of management" that led to the west virginia mine tragedy that killed 29 workers. massey called the president's remarks "regrettable." >> so tom, it looks like this winning streak continues on wall street with all of the major indexes continuing to post new highs. >> best winning streak for the dow, in fact, in the past month, as a matter of fact. so let's take a look at what

is fueling it in tonight's market focus. a bit of a choppy day, but the markets had an upward bias, helped by earnings in technology and transportation. you heard about google's better- than-expected earnings earlier in the program. going into the results, google was up 1%, but after the close, it dropped more than 4%. over the past 12 months, the stock is up 57%. more than 95% of its first quarter revenues came from ads it put on its web sites and the sites of others. while its youtube, online documents, and android smartphone business get lots of attention, those remain a small piece of the revenue picture. also in technology, advanced micro devices turned in a record first quarter report. a.m.d. beat the street thanks to a pick up in computer demand. the quarterly net income profit compares to a loss a year ago. the stock came into tonight's

report at a new 52-week high. it saw huge volume today, by the way. transportation continued its tear, fueled by package delivery firm u.p.s. its big earnings surprise last night had the stock jumping to a new 52-week high. shares have rallied more than $3 in less than a week. you can't look at u.p.s. without looks at fedex. its shares also have been jumping, today up almost 2% on heavier than usual volume, and also at a 52-week high. landstar was the leader among the dow transports, accompanied by leasing company gatx, and expeditors international. expeditors was the biggest percentage gainer of the nasdaq 100 today with its 4% gain. another deal in energy and exploration, and this one comes at a big premium. apache is the buyer of mariner

energy for $2.7 billion, getting into deepwater oil and natural gas exploration. the buyout values mariner at $26.22 per share, a big premium from yesterday's closing price. a big earnings call tomorrow. g.e. is out with its first quarter results before the opening bell. the company's finance unit was hit hard by the crisis. analysts and investors are looking for its industrial businesses to help re-ignite earnings. analyst nick heymannn at sterne agee also thinks g.e. wants to reduce investor anxiety about its complexity. >> they want to make sure these earnings start to become cleaner, so it's not just the size of the earnings, but rather it's also the increased understandability and transparency. not so many one-offs and adjustments and several different kind of complicated factors, which have clearly been a big part of why g.e.'s earnings have taken even longer time to present, let alone digest over the last four to six

quarters. >> tom: the stock comes into the report at a post-recession high. a move over $20 would be its first since october 2008. a couple of movers and volume spikes among some small pharmaceutical stocks. anadys pharmaceuticals had positive phase-two results for a hepatitis c treatment. the stock was up slightly, but on almost 14 million shares, when it usually trades fewer than a half million. santarus was a big loser after a u.s. federal judge ruled five patents on a stomach drug are invalid. the company has been trying to block a rival from selling a generic version. the stock lost a third of its value, and again on huge volume. and that's tonight's market focus.

>> the old saying a rising tide lifts all boats, that certainly has been the case with this bull market for stockss and retirement savings such as 401(k) plans. robert reynolds is along with us, the ceo of putnam investments joins us today from the nasdaq marketsite. bob, good evening, welcome to nightly business report. >> well, thank you very much. glad to be here. >> we have a lot to talk about when it comes to 401(k)s. but we have to talk about the market, the s&p 500 up since march, has it gotten ahead of the economy? >> we don't think so. stock prices always follow earnings and the earnings of u.s. companies have been terrific. and we see that continuing throughout this year and into 2011. in fact arco right now, 2011

the s&p 500 will have record earnings all time levels. >> very bullish call. sleerly it come-- clearly it comes from a unique vantage point, 120 billion in asset, half of those in mutual funds and working with hundreds and hundreds of 401(k) plans. let's talk about it is participation back in 401(k)s. >> participation is back, especially if people have implemented the pension protection act 2006 which made participation mandatory across-the-board. and then you had to elect out of a plan. plans that do that, participation is over 90%. so more and more plans are instituting that as part of their plan design. so participation is up. >> when you consider where stocks have gone over the past 13, 14 months, have how people are investing those 401(k)s changed at all. are they willing to take more risk? >> i don't think they are willing to take more risk. i think the 50% downturn, fourth quarter of 2008 was a lesson for a lot of people.

but what you do see people doing is committing more money to target date funds or lifestyle funds, as they're called. right now in the industry, about 25% of the assets are in target date funds. and the estimate over the next five years that will climb to 50%. so people are looking for package advice where diversified management and that's where they are putting their money. >> and those funds are supposed to change their allocation as folks get older and near retirement. let me ask you about company matches because we saw a lot of firms cut back or even eliminate those 401 matches during the height of the crisis, any chance they are coming back. >> company matches are definitely coming back. every study shows it is coming back. one of the great things about 401(k) t does provide some flexibility at the corporate level. and companies needed that at a tough time but now they're reinstituting it. and it is a big part of the success of 401(k). >> so when you take a look at what's inside a lot of

those putnam 401(k)s, we will look at the three biggest putnam funds by assets. the s&p 500 up about 42% over the past 12 months. the putnam fund for growth and income, putnam voyager and the putnam diversified income all clearly moving higher but focus really on u.s. assets. what about moving internationally? >> well, i think when you look at growth and income, the putnam growth and income. putnam was your one growth and income is a value fund. voyager is a growth fund. and dow have exposure to international, because the earnings, a large portion of earnings of u.s. companies come abroad. it's interesting that the diversified income trust is a bond fund. and hasek wit type returns. and i think that is where 2009 bought us. which was why so much money flowed into bond funds and not much into equity funds. >> we mentioned the voyager fund and i should note a programming note next tuesday evening we'll be speaking with the manager of that fund, one of your employee, as a matter of fact. bob, we appreciate your time and thoughts tonight.

>> my pleasure, very much. >> robert reynolds, the ceo of paut nam investments. >> susie: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: quarterly earnings continue to come in. gannett and mattel are on deck to report. march housing starts will tell us the total number of residential units that broke ground last month. also, from worries about greece to the rush to buy gold. our friday "market monitor" guest is a global investor-- dr. hans black, chairman of inter-invest. air traffic to and around europe was a mess today, due to ash from a volcano erupting in iceland. hundreds of flights were grounded or diverted because ash can severely damage jet engines. iceland is on a volcanic hotspot, and the eruption's been going on since early this week. the ash cloud does have a silver lining, though. iceland's tourism industry is getting a boost from people who want to see the volcano firsthand. >> tom: more trouble for toyota. now, the government is looking at the stability of its lexus gx-460.

that's the s.u.v. model that "consumer reports" says is a potential rollover risk, leading toyota to stop selling it. the national highway traffic safety administration says it is already working on its tests. this is the latest problem in an ongoing saga for toyota. the japanese auto maker has until monday to respond to a proposed $16 million government fine for hiding defects that caused its vehicles to suddenly accelerate.

>> susie: today's the day, the deadline for taxes. federal returns have to be postmarked by midnight. but kevin mccormally says don't stress out because the calendar says april 15. he's editorial director at kiplinger's personal finance, and he has a few more tax tips before the big deadline. tonight-- why you may not have to worry at all about today's deadline. >> with just a few hours to go before the tax deadline, i want to remind anyone struggling to finish a 1040, or that wonderful little form 4868 that pushes the deadline back to october, that there's a good chance you don't really have to get it in the mail by midnight. the penalty for filing late is a percentage of the tax owed with the return, and since most taxpayers get refunds, they don't have to worry about the deadline. if you're in that boat, you should file as soon as possible to get your money back, but you don't need to join in tonight's mad dash to the post office. now, there's an important exception to the no tax/no penalty rule, and it applies to

folks who converted regular i.r.a.s to roth i.r.a.s last year. if you don't file on time, or formally ask for an extension with the 4868, you don't get until october 15 to undo the conversion. the chance to recharacterize a 2009 roth conversion ends at midnight tonight if you don't file on time, even if you deserve a refund. finally, speaking of refunds, let me renew my plea that you fix the w-4 form that controls how much tax is withheld from your paychecks. about 100 million americans habitually let their bosses skim off too much for uncle sam, which is why the irs is in the process of sending out billions of dollars in refunds. sure, we all love to get checks, and it does give most of us the right to ignore the tax deadline. but come on-- it makes more sense to get your money when you earn it. if you claim extra allowances on a new w-4 filed with your employer, you'll enjoy the almost instant gratification of seeing more money in your paycheck starting next payday. i'm kevin mccormally.

>> tom: and finally tonight, you might not know it from looking at him, but our tax guy, kevin mccormally, is a tough competitor. tax season really brings out his inner "iron man." see for yourself in tonight's "funny money." >> welcome to the audit arena. this is "iron accountant"! tonight's challengers: world renowned tax guru, kiplinger's kevin mccormally... and accounting professor and creator of the accounting treasure hunt, larry singleton. they will face iron accountant tom ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation for the american institute of certified public accountants. lets unveil tonight's secret ingredient-- tax credits. let's begin. kevin starts off with the 1040.

>> i must say, not very exciting. >> i'm stunned-- iron accountant tom is going for the lifetime learning credit. that's not going to be enough. >> he's talking to himself. >> but what's this? >> check out the color of that binder. >> kevin's pulling out form 8863 and throwing in the hope credit for students attending a school in a midwestern disaster area. >> i didn't see that coming! >> that will be hard to beat. the pressure is mounting for singleton. >> he'll need a sharp pencil here. oh, wow! >> a residential energy efficiency property credit for qualified geothermal heat pumps. very nice presentation on that one. and now the iron accountant. >> he's got to make a move here, but nothing too flashy that it gets rejected. >> but wait-- he's starting over. lets see that again! >> i can't believe it. >> he's having the child claim the credit because the parents are in the a.m.t. that's amazing. time is up! have the challengers defeated the iron accountant? it's now in the hands of the ultimate judge.

results next time on "iron accountant: the audit round"! >> i people are going to be on to something financial only tax preparation could be that exciting. >> i think for a lot of people who haven't done their taxes they're going to feel like that tonightment but for those of us, and i'm sure you've done yours, we can be laughing. >> thankfully we can be, absolutely. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for thursday, april 15. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and goodnight to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in: to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.